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Primary elements of Oceans
Primary elements of Oceans are Chlorine and Sodium Occurrence of Chlorine In nature, chlorine is found primarily as the chloride ion, a component of the salt that is deposited in the earth or dissolved in the oceans — about 1.9% of the mass of seawater is chloride ions. Even higher concentrations of chloride are found in the Dead Sea and in underground brine deposits. Most chloride salts are soluble in water, thus, chloride-containing minerals are usually only found in abundance in dry climates or deep underground. Common chloride minerals include halite (sodium chloride), sylvite (potassium chloride), and carnallite (potassium magnesium chloride hexahydrate). Over 2000 naturally-occurring organic chlorine compounds are known. Industrially, elemental chlorine is usually produced by the electrolysis of sodium chloride dissolved in water. Along with chlorine, this chloralkali process yields hydrogen gas and sodium hydroxide, according to the following chemical equation: :2 NaCl + 2 H2O → Cl2 + H2 + 2 NaOH Isotopes of Chlorine Chlorine has a wide range of isotopes, the two principal stable isotopes being 35Cl (75.77%) and 37Cl (24.23%); they give chlorine atoms an apparent atomic weight of 35.4527 g/mol. Trace amounts of radioactive 36Cl exist in the environment, in a ratio of about 7x10−13 to 1 with stable isotopes. 36Cl is produced in the atmosphere by spallation of 36Ar by interactions with cosmic ray protons. In the subsurface environment, 36Cl is generated primarily as a result of neutron capture by 35Cl or muon capture by 40Ca. 36Cl decays to 36S and to 36Ar, with a combined half-life of 308,000 years. The half-life of this hydrophilic nonreactive isotope makes it suitable for geologic dating in the range of 60,000 to 1 million years. Additionally, large amounts of 36Cl were produced by irradiation of seawater during atmospheric detonations of nuclear weapons between 1952 and 1958. The residence time of 36Cl in the atmosphere is about 1 week. Thus, as an event marker of 1950s water in soil and ground water, 36Cl is also useful for dating waters less than 50 years before the present. 36Cl has seen use in other areas of the geological sciences, including dating ice and sediments. Occurrence of Sodium (NaAlSi3O8), a sodium-containing mineral.]] Owing to its high reactivity, sodium is found in nature only as a compound and never as the free element. Sodium makes up about 2.6% by weight of the Earth's crust, making it the sixth most abundant element overall and the most abundant alkali metal. Sodium is found in many different minerals, of which the most common is ordinary salt (sodium chloride), which occurs in vast quantities dissolved in seawater, as well as in solid deposits (halite). Others include amphibole, cryolite, soda niter and zeolite. Sodium is relatively abundant in stars and the D spectral lines of this element are among the most prominent in star light. Though elemental sodium has a rather high vaporization temperature, its relatively high abundance and very intense spectral lines have allowed its presence to be detected by ground telescopes and confirmed by spacecraft (Mariner 10 and MESSENGER) in the thin atmosphere of the planet Mercury. See also *Salt flat References Category:gravity wikia Category:Stream elements